Shiver
by ChasingValdez
Summary: After four months of attending Ouran Academy, Soymikou isn't known to be related to her brother or cousin who are both members of the famous Host Club. She is known by her classmates as 'The Mute'. Once everyone finds out who her relatives are, a spotlight is cast upon her, which is not good for her social anxiety. The twins don't make it any easier on her either. OCxKAORU!
1. Chapter 1

******Her name is pronounced "SOY-MEE-COO" okay? okay.**

* * *

My footsteps echoed through the many twisting and turning halls of Ouran Academy as I ran to Music Room 3 in search of my brother, Takashi Morinozuka, whose help I desperately needed.

I ran as fast as I could, my long, black hair and the skirt of my yellow dress both flying behind me as I neared my destination.

Although I'd been attending this school for approximately four months and my brother and cousin happened to be members, I had never actually been to see the Host Club once. Three of it's members were in my class 1-A, but I sat in the back and didn't speak to them, or anyone for that matter.

My brother and I had very similar qualities, including the fact that we were both people of few words; Mori especially. Unfortunately, since he was a Host, his lack of words was deemed attractive in a way, but it was the complete opposite for myself. I was known as 'The Mute' by my classmates. It was pure ignorance in my opinion. If they'd known I suffered from a minor social anxiety disorder, I'm sure they would've treated me better, but they didn't know and I was alienated by them.

I also wasn't known to be related to Takashi or my cousin Mitsukuni whatsoever, but I just figured that even though the students at my school were very intelligent, they could also be very dense and miss important details. So, I didn't let anyone bother me. I just stayed "The Mute" in order to be left alone; nobody wanted to talk to a person who wouldn't respond back.

I reached the door of Music Room 3, the hangout for the Host Club, and waited a minute or two for me to catch my breath before I entered. As I turned the knob and opened the large door, rose petals fluttered down around me and I heard the chorus of many voices welcoming me.

When all the petals reached the ground I blinked several times to get my eyes adjusted to the scene in front of me. It was after school, so I knew Mori was just attending a meeting, but my issue was urgent and I needed my brother's assistance badly.

My eyes darted to each of the faces of the seven people in the room, the one closest to me with pale blonde hair tilted his head to the side in confusion. I felt the heated blush spread over my cheeks as I felt all seven pairs of eyes stare through me. My palms became moist and my breathing increased. I needed Takashi. Now. It was situations like these that my older brother helped me cope with my anxiety. Although it wasn't a severe case, I still got the unpleasant symptoms of the disorder.

I continued to scan the room for my brother, and once I met eyes with him, I ran over hurriedly. "Takashi, I need your help!" I exclaimed, my voice in whisper-yell mode.

He stood, towering over me, then bent over until he was close to my height. His face was expressionless as it usually was unless we were within the walls of our home, but I could see concern swimming in his eyes, grey like mine. "What is it, Soymikou?" His deep voice questioned.

I tugged on the sleeve of his light blue Ouran uniform. "I lost my camera." I quietly told him, tears beginning to form in my eyes.

Photography was my favourite thing in the world. I took the course all through middle school and was in Ouran's photography course this year as well. I liked it because it took the saying 'a picture is worth a thousand words' to a whole new meaning and it suited my situation beautifully. I used my camera skills to capture pictures that could express more words than I ever could to anyone.

My brother's black brows creased and he stood up straight again. He knew how much my camera meant to me. He opened his mouth to speak, but another voice interrupted him. "What did you lose, my sweet princess?" I felt a hand slip into mine and spin me around to face the pale blonde haired boy, with piercing violet eyes.

I gulped at how close we were. "M-my camera." I mumbled, heartbeat beginning to speed up.

I felt hands grab my shoulders and I was lifted, the boy's hand leaving mine, and was put a few feet to the left of where I originally stood. Takashi set me down and stepped in front of me. "No." He warned the boy.

I heard laughter and looked over at the two twin boys hysterically laughing at the now frozen boy who had grasped my hand. I felt arms wrap around me, my breath stopping in my throat and fear making my knees tremble. I looked down to see my cousin, Mitsukuni hugging me tightly. "Soy-chan!" He exclaimed happily and gazed up at me with his large, light brown eyes.

I smiled down at him, relief washing over me, and hugged him back. "Hi, Honey." Luckily, my social anxiety didn't apply to my cousin or my brother.

"Honey-senpai, Mori-senpai, you know this girl?" I looked up to see the boy with violet eyes ask as the rest of the boys came closer to us, making me take two steps back.

Honey nodded vigorously. "This is Soymikou." He said gesturing to me, his bunny Usa-chan in one hand.

One of the twins I recognized from Class 1-A snapped his fingers. "Hey wait, you're 'The Mute', right?" My heart dropped when I heard to cruel nickname come from the twin's mouth. I sighed aloud and looked over at Takashi who gazed at me with apologetic eyes.

I heard a gasp and saw Haruhi, another person from the Host Club in my class, cross his arms. "Guys, you're being rude." He told the twins.

The twin on the right raised his eyebrows and ignored Haruhi's comment. "But you just spoke?"

"Is that why you like the strong and silent type?" The two twins questioned in sync as they both grinned mischievously at me, their amber eyes sparkling with trouble.

_Strong and silent type? _What were they talking about. I looked at them uncomprehendingly and raised my eyebrow slightly.

"Hikaru! Kaoru! Stop it at once!" The taller blonde scolded. "This girl has obviously never been to the Host Club before, show her some decency." He bowed towards me. "I am Suoh, Tamaki. Welcome to the Host Club, Soymikou."

"Thanks." I muttered, looking down at my shoes and letting my hair fall over and shield my face from their gazes.

The twins stepped closer to me."So, is Mori-senpai..." One started.

"...your _boyfriend_?" The other ended.

My head shot up quickly and I looked at them with wide eyes, trying to determine whether or not they were being serious. They leaned against each other, a hand on each hip, awaiting my response. I realized they weren't joking and began to laugh loudly, my eyes squinting shut as I shook with laughter.

I covered my mouth with my hand quickly and tried to compose myself. I could feel the ever-lasting blush on my cheeks grow hotter. When I re-opened my eyes I saw all the boys looking at me with shock, all except for one with gleaming glasses and styled black hair who had a slight smirk on his lips.

I smiled slightly, feeling sick to my stomach with all the attention, a corner of my mouth tilting upwards. "Takashi is my older brother." I said faintly.

Tamaki and the twins' faces went slack with astonishment. They began babbling to themselves about how unbelievably impossible it was that I was related to Takashi and Honey.

Haruhi approached me, glaring at Tamaki, Hikaru and Kaoru. "Sorry about them, they can be a little over-dramatic sometimes." He said, sending me a sweet smile.

I smiled timidly at the boy with the largest chocolate brown eyes I'd ever seen. "We'll help you find your camera if you want." He offered.

I hopped once with excitement, a grin forming on my face. "Yes, please!" I spoke a tad louder than usual. I landed and grin faded within a millisecond. I internally smacked myself. _That was _so _stupid. Why did I do that? Now they think I'm stupid, now they don't like me. _Once again, I let my hair fall in front of my face like drapes and hid behind my dark locks from the people surrounding me.

The twins looked over at me with horrified expressions. "That was...adorable." They said together. I gazed up at them through my hair and cocked my head slightly? _Had I heard them correctly?_

"Yes! We will help you retrieve your camera, Soymikou." Tamaki told me. "Men! We will split up and meet back here in an hour." He instructed. "Haruhi, you'll be paired with me. Kaoru, y-"

"I think I'd rather go with someone else, sorry senpai." Haruhi said apologetically. I couldn't blame her for not wanting Tamaki as her partner, he was way too crazy for my tastes as well.

Tamaki's face fell and he walked over to a corner of the room, gloomily facing the wall and sulking. Haruhi sighed heavily. "Alright, we can be partners."

The tall blonde sprinted from his corner and picked up Haruhi in a bear hug. "Thank you, thank you, Haruhi!" He chanted. After setting the annoyed brunette back on the ground, he continued assigning partners. "Kaoru and Hikaru, you two will go with Soymi-chan, Kyoya will come with Haruhi and I and Mori will go with Honey."

I looked over at the twins and grimaced inwardly. Whatever was inside my stomach began churning unpleasantly. They both met my gaze and grinned, resembling sharks seconds away from devouring their prey. I shuttered and looked over at Takashi who only nodded sympathetically at me as if to say '_just go with it if you want your camera', _which I really did.

I sighed and followed everyone out the door. After contemplating which direction I should go, I decided on going down the hallway to my left. I was taken by surprise when I felt two thin, but muscular arms link through my own, resulting in a high-pitched squeal to come from deep within my chest and out of my mouth.

Beside me, the twins chuckled. "Are you always this jumpy, Soymikou?"

"Yes," I said quietly, shying away from them and taking a few steps forward to distance myself from the two troublemakers. But, it was no use. They simply took a stride and caught up to my pace instantly.

"So, Soymi," One began, "if you yourself are the strong and silent type per say..."

"...your host type must be the complete opposite." The other concluded.

I grimaced, going through the different hosts in my head, deciding who was the loudest and and came to the conclusion of Tamaki." Tamaki? No thank you." I said. As if I would even attend one of the Host Club's many activities. It was sadly humorous to think that _I _would do such a thing, of all people. But these boys had no clue; they just thought I was quiet like Takashi. But he chooses to be that way, he prefers not to speak when it isn't absolutely necessary. I, on the other hand, couldn't speak so much as a sentence or two aloud unless I wanted to vomit or pass out in front anyone around me.

The twin on my left came a little closer to me, as if he wasn't close enough to begin with, making me what to sprint in the opposite direction. "You know, Soymi, I think you like _the devilish type_." He whispered, his hot breath on my ear, making me shiver.

I turned to face him, which turned out to be a bad idea once I realized how close he really was. My breath hitched as the familiar uncomfortable feeling spread within me, but I didn't move away, let alone gag or become faint-headed like usual. Faces inches apart, I looked into his amber eyes only to see mischief, but also a hint of something I couldn't quite put my finger on. His thin lips tilted upwards in a smirk as he awaited my response. After analyzing all of his facial features, from his auburn strands of hair to the smallest of freckles hidden within his complexion, I realized how long I had been taking to answer him and blushed the colour of fresh strawberries. "I don't have a type." I stated in a low tone, turning my face forwards and away from the twin.

The twin on my right scoffed. "Everyone has a type."

I just shook my head, focusing on the task at hand and wiping my sweaty palms on the skirt of my dress as we walked.

"We'll see about that." The both said slyly.


	2. Chapter 2

The alarm clock next to my bed went off at its usual time, the sound of shrill vocals filling my ears and waking up my senses. I reached over to shut it off and smiled when I saw the outline of my camera in the dim light coming through my windows.

I stood and stretched, yawning loudly before getting up and into my shower. I was happy this morning, whether it was because Tamaki and Kyoya had found my most prized possession or that the entire Host Club had been kind enough to help me look for it. The only downside to the whole situation from yesterday was the two Hitachiin twins. Tamaki had unfortunately paired them with me in our search for my missing camera, and it was disastrous. They had done nothing but try to provoke me, making me sick to my stomach with dizziness and fearful of how close they had gotten to me. They'd broken my space bubble entirely. No one other than my two brothers and cousin had ever done that, well, since... _No. Don't ruin your mood by remembering that right now. _I usually remembered the _incident_ late each night, when even Takashi couldn't rescue me from my own visions and thoughts. I relived it over and over until my tears could no longer be shed, and my eyes slowly shut to get four to five hours of rest at most. _Damn those twins! How dare they make such dangerous thoughts enter my mind!_ _Why couldn't they just leave me alone like everyone else in the school? _

I hummed a slow melody quietly to myself as I dressed in the uniform I was required to wear for school but hated so much, attempting to rid the thoughts of what had happened so long ago from my mind for the time being. And, fortunately for me, it worked. I loosely tied the red bow around my collar and brushed my knotted, dark hair, letting it fall in front of my face as usual to enhance my ghost-like appearance.

I exited our giant house, regarding the architecture as I left like I usually did. I never got over how beautifully styled the mansion was; it almost looked like a building that belonged in ancient Greece or Rome. I smiled to myself, slinging my bag containing my school books and camera over my shoulder and climbed into the limo parked in front of my estate. Inside, Takashi and Mitsukuni greeted me, one more cheerful than the other. "Good morning, Soy-chan!" Honey sang.

"Morning, Honey." I replied cheerfully.

The drive to school was short and speedy, which seemed to be the case for my happy mood as well. When I entered the colossal doors of Ouran Academy, I separated from my brother and cousin and headed to my first class, science, which happened to have the twins in it, like all my other classes besides photography. I huffed when I spotted them as I entered the spacious room filled with rows of desks. I normally would've came into class and gone straight to my desk without being noticed to enjoy another day of silence towards me and observations of my classmates, but once I sat down the twins got up from their seats, took their belongings with them, and sat in front of me.

I unpacked my textbooks and papers from my bags, not bothering to look up so the twins would see my lack of response and become disinterested in me and leave me alone, but that wasn't going to happen and I knew it.

"Hello, Soymikou." I heard them say in sync.

I reluctantly raised my eyes to meet theirs and froze. The other students in the class seemed to have noticed the Hitachiin twins greeting me and turned to watch, waiting to see if I would respond; if I actually _was _a mute. My eyes went wide with terror and I felt my heart begin to beat loudly and quickly inside my chest. I felt my knees begin to tremble and held them still with my hands. I opened my mouth to speak; the dozens of pairs of eyes watching me grew wider and they leaned backwards in their chairs to try and hear my voice as if it was miraculous that I actually _could _speak and the sound of my voice was _so_ important to hear. _Answer them! They're going to think you don't like them! _Confusion took over my mind for a split second; I thought I _didn't _like them anyways?

"Soymikou...?" One of the twins said, his voice no louder than a whisper. I shut my mouth as my face grew hotter and hotter by the second, my stomach twisted painfully and I felt like at any moment I was about to be sick in front of everyone. He looked over his shoulder and then back at me, seeing that all eyes were on me and I was way more than uncomfortable.

The twin turned to his brother. "We'll talk to Soymi later, Hikaru." He said and they both spun to face the front of the class.

All the gazes on me went elsewhere as the students laughed at the fact that they had actually, for some crazy reason, thought I could speak. I breathed a sigh of relief and silently started practising a calming technique the therapist my father had gotten for me had introduced to me to slow the beating of my heart.

Haruhi, who arrived late and saw the ending of what had just occured, hit the arm of the closest twin to the aisle she walked down, earning a groan from him, until she reached the seat next to me.

The professor began to teach a lesson minutes after that, and I looked ahead but was distracted by the backs of the heads of the twins in front me. Each twin had their hair styled opposite to the other. They sat close, so close that their shoulders were lightly brushing each other as they breathed.

My eyes wandered to twin on the left; the one that had saved me from embarrassment. Well, _more _embarrassment_._ Kaoru. I knew it was him because he had said Hikaru's name, and, I noticed he parted his hair on the left while Hikaru parted it on the right. I remembered the hint of something I couldn't quite name hidden within his playful eyes, and shivered slightly. I inwardly scowled at myself. _No, do _not _get involved with them. _I huffed angrily at myself and slumped in my chair for the rest of the lesson, thinking that a boy that troublesome shouldn't have saved me from embarrassment, he should've been the one to encourage it to happen.

"...you and a partner will complete the lab and record your results." The teacher said as I focused my attention off of the twins and onto him. "Get to it." He instructed. My mouth went dry. _Partners?_I took a deep breath. _Relax, this is when you go ask the teacher if you can work by yourself. It's fine. _I tried to assure myself that doing that would be fine, I'd already done it countless times before, but every time a teacher said the word 'groups' or 'partners' my stomach did backflips.

I feel a hand on my arm, causing me to jump slightly, and looked over at Haruhi who smiled sweetly at me. "Partners?" He asked.

My cheeks grew warm. "Yeah, but I have to warn you, I'm terrible in science." I spoke softly and apologetically.

He laughed lightly. "Don't worry," He winked, "I've got this."

The petite brunette went to the front of the class to grab the supplies we needed for our lab and handed my a pair of large goggles when he returned. I grimaced and slipped them on while pulling out paper from my binders.

Haruhi got to work while I doodled on the papers, glaring at the back of Kaoru's head. _How dare he be nice to me!_ What was his game? Was he trying to get me to owe him a favour, to blackmail me?

"Uh, Soymikou?" Haruhi's voice interrupted my inner rant and I mentally shook myself.

I looked over at the doe-eyed host. "Yes?" I asked quietly, still not completely focused.

"You kind of ripped through the paper while you were drawing." Haruhi told me, a thin brow raised. "Is something wrong?"

I looked down at the paper I'd been doodling on, it now had lines of rips through it thanks to my anger subconsciously being taken out on it. Heat rose to my cheeks once again. "Sorry." I mumbled sheepishly. "Nothing's wrong." I said, assuring myself more than answering him.

He looked at me solemnly. "You know, Soymi, if it's about the whole 'The Mute' thing and the twins, don't worry about it." He waved his hand. "It'll blow over sooner or later. And you'll learn to ignore the twins, if you don't retort them they'll lose interest."

I sighed. "Easy for you to say." I muttered inaudibly.

"What?"

I smiled. "I said: thanks for the advice." He smiled back and nodded, going back to our lab project.

I grimaced again, this time visibly. As nice as it was for Haruhi to give me advice, it was completely unhelpful. He didn't know about my anxiety; nobody knew except for my family. So, in a way, being 'The Mute' helped me. It helped me stay stable; with no one talking to me, the risk of having an anxiety attack was low. Today's incident was mild, usually it was twenty times as worse.

I scowled at the back of the Hitachiin brother's heads once more, hearing the bell signalling the end of period ring through the corridors of Ouran into my classroom.

I stood and sighed heavily, grabbing my things and leaving the class as quickly as I could, not even bothering to glance at the twins as I passed by.

* * *

During lunch I visited the library, which wasn't very much like a library at all. Almost half of the students attending Ouran were in here, chattering loudly and not reading or studying whatsoever. I made my way through the crowds, getting pushed and nudged by dozens of elbows that I knew would leave marks and bruises on my sensitive skin. My breathing increased, so I tried to go as fast as I could to reach the bookshelves where there weren't any people. The maze of students was a little ridiculous; I actually wanted to sign out a book unlike them who were just using this room as a place to hangout.

I started to use my elbows to shove back, almost clawing my way through until I reached the book shelves in the back. I wiped the sweat droplets that had formed on my forehead and get to work looking for a new book to read on my downtime.

I'd gone over practically every book in this library already, but I was determined to find another. I loved to read, almost as much as I loved my camera, which was saying something. As I turned the corner of the shelf I'd grabbed a book off of, I collided with another person, and we both fell to the ground.

I groaned quietly, and looked up to see a small hand in front of me. My eyes travelled upwards to reveal that Haruhi was holding out his hand to help me get up. I had collided with him of all people.

A light blush came over my cheeks as I hesitantly took his hand and stood. "Thank you, Haruhi." I said, my voice hushed.

"I was just going to come looking for you, Soymi!" Haruhi smiled widely. "I found this great science book to help us with our project. Do you want to come over after school and work on it together?"

Me _go to Haruhi's _house? I looked down at my shoes. This was something I'd never done before. I'd never been to another classmates house before, ever. Because I was never asked to do such a thing before, and I wasn't entirely interested. I had to admit, it would be enjoyable, but the fear of having to actually attempt to converse with someone else for such a long period of time was alarming. _I'd have nothing to say to Haruhi. He'd get angry with me if I didn't speak to him, he wouldn't like me anymore. What if I offend him?_

I looked back up at the boy in front of me, ready to decline his offer, but his eyes were so bright and his smile was wide with excitement. _I would offend him if I didn't go. _It was a lose-lose situation for me.

A semi-forced smile formed on my lips. "Sure." I replied softly.

"Great! See you after school." The brunette waved, left the spot we were in and went into the maze, becoming completely absorbed by the students until he was out of sight.

I sighed to myself. I was going over to someone's house, something I'd never done. _And_ he was a boy. Although, he had some very feminine qualities and actions about him... No matter, my stomach was still doing gymnastics inside of me for the rest of the day.

* * *

The day came and went quicker than expected, and I packed my belongings into my book bag before rushing off to Music Room 3.

I didn't bother knocking and turned to the knob to open the large door, ignoring the rose petals that came down on me and walked in.

"Soymikou?" Tamaki, Hikaru and Kaoru said in sync.

"Soymi-chan!" My older cousin, Mitsukuni, yelled happily. He ran over and hugged me, and like usual, I couldn't help but grin at my older cousin and wrap my arms around him. I looked down and smiled at the short third-year, remembering when we were both younger and I was the shorter one of the two of us.

"You ready to go?" I heard and looked up to see Haruhi with his bag over his shoulder in front of me.

I nodded and looked back down at my cousin. "I've got to go now, Honey." I said politely and slipped away from his embrace.

"Wait a minute, where are you going!?" Tamaki yelled.

"Yeah, where?" The twins nosily asked.

We ignored them. "Let's go." I said quietly and smiled at the natural host.


	3. Chapter 3

The walk to Haruhi's house was and refreshing; the air was crisp and the leaves crunched under our feet. Autumn was always my favourite season; the colours were so beautiful and the leaves seemed to dance as they floated to the ground. This was the season I would take my most favourite pictures. Although the dozens of photographs I had were incredible, nothing could compare to the way everything looked in real life. As we walked, there was comforting silence between us, both busy enjoying the beauty of the nature around us.

We neared a complex building with many doors. I followed Haruhi up the steps and waited as he unlocked the door. Once it was open, he gestured for me to enter with a nervous smile on his face. I blushed slightly, my heart rate increasing, and entered, slipping of my shoes and wandering in.

I gasped lightly as I gazed around his house. I was amazed at the differences between our houses. It was very small and quaint compared to my castle of a house. The walls had paint chipping off them, dust was collecting on shelves that I doubted anyone could reach and the scent of laundry detergent filled my nose. The perfect word to describe Haruhi's house was _homey_.

I looked back at the doe-eyed brunette and smiled widely. He looked at me, an expression of relief on his features. "Let's get started." He said cheerfully and took the supplies we needed out from his bag.

We worked mostly silently. Haruhi would strike up conversation here and there much to my dismay, but we mainly worked quietly. And we both enjoyed it. In a way I felt bad for Haruhi; the host club was loud and crazy most of the time. This muted work must've been a rare occasion for him, unlike for myself. Silence was my sanctuary. It was relaxing and made me feel safe. Of course, it _was_ nice to have people to talk to every once in a while. My brothers would tell me stories of their days at school, their work and how their studies in karate and kendo were going, while Mitsukuni would go on and on about every single little thing that occurs to him each day. I found it refreshing compared to my usual day of trying not to be seen or noticed by anyone. I was a ghost outside of home. Someone who could travel from place to place unseen and unnoticed. I enjoyed it; it was better than facing everyone in the outside world.

I smiled to myself and continued the task that Haruhi had given me contently, but we were both interrupted when a large 'bang' came from outside. We turned and looked at each other questioningly, both of us drawing a blank. Haruhi stood and offered me his hand. I smiled timidly and took it.

I followed the brunette to the door and peered out of the small window that required both of us to stand on the tips of our toes in order to see out.

When nothing out of the ordinary was seen, Haruhi pulled open the door with an angry expression plastered on his face. "I can see you guys!" He yelled with annoyance.

My brow creased. _Who could he see?_ I saw nothing but the street in front of his house and a few cars parked along the road. Then, I realized that the cars were far to expensive looking to be owned by anyone who lived around here. I sighed deeply and brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of my nose. The Host Club was here.

Just as I had predicted, the boys sauntered out from their hiding spots and trudged over to us in the doorway. Each boy was wearing a ski mask that covered their entire head but exposed their eyes and mouths, along with their school uniforms. Had they decided to wear those _just _so they could spy on us?

"Were you guys spying on us?" Haruhi angrily took the words right out of my thoughts.

They all bowed their heads after being caught, except for Tamaki who's eyes had sadness swimming within their violet irises. I realized (with relief) that neither my brother nor my cousin were here. I was happy and thankful that they hadn't participated in this act of espionage.

"Don't be mad, Haruhi." Tamaki spoke in a small voice. His eyes went wide with frenzy. "It was those rotten twins' ideas!" He exclaimed.

"Hey!" The Hitachiin boys said, their amber eyes narrowing. Kyoya, the only boy not wearing the ridiculous ski mask, sighed loudly. He probably dealt with their silly shenanigans on a daily basis. I'd only met them a day ago and I was already fed up, how had Kyoya mastered being in their presence for so long? Maybe he had a way of tuning them out, or maybe he had just given up and realized there was no 'dealing' with them, just getting over the fact that their hair-brained schemes and actions were inevitable. When my gaze met his for a split second, I saw exhaustion in his dark eyes, and a flash of what seemed like apology.

A small blush formed on my cheeks when I noticed Hikaru and Kaoru fully for the first time in this encounter. I titled my head forwards slightly to let my hair fall in front of my face like a dark curtain and glanced at my feet.

"We just wanted to see what they were doing." Said one.

"Yeah, what if they ended up kissing or something." I looked up once the second twin spoke, anger and embarrassment bubbling inside of me. Kissing? _Haruhi? _He was far too feminine for me, and, if I was being honest, I kind of had a theory that Haruhi liked his _own _gender.

Beside me, Haruhi's face went pink. "Gah!" He exclaimed. "Kissing? W-we were just working on our science project!"

In the blink of any eye, Tamaki had picked up Haruhi into his arms and held him tightly against his chest, causing the brunette's face to squish together and his lips to pucker. "Of course, Haruhi, daddy knows you'd never be stupid enough to kiss Soymikou in a million years! Mori-senpai would kill you and Honey-senpai would beat you to a pulp." He spoke lightly, as if being beaten to a pulp sounded foolish and unlikely. An image of Mitsukuni smiling brightly while sitting next to a brown pile of Haruhi with his eyes formed in my mind.

"Let me go, Senpai!" The small host pushed himself out of Tamaki's embrace. "I can't believe you were spying on us."

Next to Haruhi, I nodded vigorously, my eyebrows creased angrily. _They were _s_pying on us? Unbelievable. How rude! How disrespectful._

The two twins and the princely host saw my nod and their mouths fell open. "B-but, Soymikou, we were just- It was the doppelgangers!" Tamaki accused.

I turned to Kaoru and Hikaru. I couldn't tell who was who still, but when I saw both of their eyes widen, I only saw hurt hidden within one pair of golden irises. "That was really low, Kaoru." I said to him, my voice quiet and angry. I felt utterly insulted by these boys. They were contemptuous to think spying wasn't rude, let alone something disgraceful. I was so furious, that even though I saw Kaoru's face fall and his eyes widen, whether it was with sadness or remorse, I did not care. I was too in-the-moment-angry.

I spun around, acting like a miniature hurricane as I gathered my belongings and avoided the gazes of the boys around me. Once I completed my gathering, I went to face Haruhi. "Thank you for having me." I muttered to him before brushing past the Host Club members in the doorway and down the stairs of Haruhi's complex and onto the sidewalk of the busy street. I pulled out my phone and sent a quick text to our limo driver to come and bring me home.

* * *

As I lay in bed that night, my mind felt overwhelmed with all the thoughts buzzing around inside of my head. After talking with Mitsukuni about what had happened earlier this evening at Haruhi's house, I was no longer angry with the Host Club, just upset that they had invaded Haruhi and I's privacy. It wasn't like we would've done anything wrong anyways, we were just working on our project that was due next Friday, a week from today.

I huffed out a sigh and rolled over onto my side; the clock next to my bed read _2:14am_. _I really hurt Kaoru's feelings._ I remembered the look on his face when I had told him how low his actions were. His face had fallen completely, eyes widening, mouth falling agape. Unlike his brother, hurt had been hidden underneath the amber and mischief in his eyes. _They're so pretty, _I had to admit; they shone like glittering gold in the sunlight. I shut my eyes tightly. _When I said he was really low, the light went out. _His eyes had widened yes, but they became duller than usual.

I rolled over onto my stomach and shoved my face in my pillow. _He must hate me now. _I groaned loudly and rolled back onto my back. I opened my eyes, facing the ceiling, but all I could see was the blackness of the room around me. _**Haruhi probably hates you now, too, since you left him even though he was nice enough to invite you over, **_a voice in the back of mind told me. _**He was your only chance at having a friend. Now who will be your friend? No one. **_Tears were beginning to form in my eyes. _Go away! Stop it! _I brought my hands up to my ears, trying to block out the other voice telling me the thoughts I had shoved into the back of my mind. _Please, let me be. _

I brought my knees up to my chest and hid my face against them. The voice laughed, but this time it sounded farther away. It must've decided to leave me alone. For now. I removed my hands from my ears and wrapped my arms around my legs, nestling into the pillows and bringing up my blanket until it was just under my chin. Although they hurt and felt very dry, my eyes eventually closed shut and I drifted off to a restless sleep.


End file.
